1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing imitation leather from natural hemp and the product thereof and more particularly, to a method for producing imitation leather sheet having an excellent stiffness, flexibility, and hydroscopic property, which is very similar to natural leather.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of conventional synthetic leather are well known in the art. Such synthetic leathers can be classified as follows: (1) imitation leather having a simple structure manufactured by attaching an external surface of polyvinylchloride to a supporting layer such as textile fabric, fabric pieces, paper, and the like; (2) imitation leather manufactured by attaching a final finishing layer to a high molecular polymer such as polyvinylchloride, polyamide, polyurethane polyacrylate, a polyamino acid blend, and the like to an external surface layer corresponding to hidden surface layer of natural leather on a supporting layer of textile fabric, fabric pieces, and the like; and (3) imitation leather having multiple layers with a double layered textile layer, that is, a basic layer formed with non-woven fabric and a polymer binder, and a surface layer formed with a porous layer, or relatively thin polymer layer, and an additional textile layer formed by using a plurality of head boxes, which are containers which continuously feed the textile pulp to the sheet forming mechanisms. Although such imitation leather generally is similar to natural leather, it has insufficient stiffness, flexibility, and hygroscopic properties. Furthermore, the various layers of such imitation leather may disadvantageously separate from each other during use.
Recently, some forms of imitation leather have been improved by mixing polymeric material with paper pulp such as craft pulp mixed with "Linter" obtained from cotton seeds. However, the "Linter" is expensive so that the cost of the product is increased and it is complicated to manufacture.
Furthermore, such prior art imitation leather is formed by utilizing a plurality of head boxes to produce a layer form in a process requiring the layer material to pass through respective head boxes. Therefore, there are many problems such as an increase in inferiority and in the separation of layers, as well as a requirement for a plurality of head boxes.